Opposites Attract
by Isis101
Summary: When an ancient legend reveals itself, and a young woman finds herself swept into the past, two worlds collide and Edana must find the strength within herself to overcome the borders that exist between demons and humans, all the while proving that opposites do attract.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Opposites Attract  
Author: Isis101  
Character Pairing: Sesshomaru and OC  
Rating: M (Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language.)  
Genre: Romance/Action  
Type: Continuous (Incomplete)  
Universe: Canon with some AU thrown in  
Disclaimer: InuYasha and its characters belong exclusively to Rumiko Takahashi and I do not profit from this work. Edana belongs to me though, as she is my character. Please do not steal her.  
Spoilers: N/A

**A/N: Please see my profile page for regular updates on my progress for all of my fanfictions. Thank you!**

**Opposites Attract  
****Chapter 1**

Ring…

Ring…

The 12th grade history teacher stopped mid-lecture and stood up from her desk to walk over to where the phone hung on the classroom wall. "Hello, Mrs. Abe speaking," she said politely into the receiver.

"Hello. May I speak with Edana Calder, please?" The secretary's usually bored voice held a note of nervousness that spiked the teacher's attention.

"Of course," Mrs. Abe said worriedly. Edana was her best student and she hopped that the girl hadn't done anything to get herself in trouble.

Edana was just as worried and confused when her teacher called her over to the phone. As she rose from her seat in the back and walked to the front of the class, her best friend, Tomomi, whispered, "Why?"

Even if Edana had heard her friend's whispered question, she wouldn't have been able to answer because she herself didn't know why. Everyone looked up from their notes to watch Edana walk over to the phone. Their natural curiosity overrode everything else as they blatantly stared at her.

Since they were all staring so fixedly, they could easily see her face fall after a few moments of listening to the secretary. They all saw her eyes fill with worry and they all saw her walk quickly and stiffly from the room without saying a word.

Edana could feel her eyes fill with tears as she walked down the hallway of whitewashed walls. As she walked, she felt as though the walls were slowly closing in on her. Desperately, she wished that she was back at home, sleeping through the night, and that this mourning had never happened.

_When she had reached the front of the class her teacher had handed her the receiver with a worried look. Edana had been curious as to why she was needed but had figured that it wouldn't be serious. She didn't think she could have ever been more wrong._

_When she had taken the phone and greeted the secretary with the usual hello, the office worker had quickly told her that she was needed immediately down at the office and that she should bring all of her school stuff. If she hadn't been focused on what the secretary was saying then she might have caught the pitying note in her voice._

_However, Edana had only been slightly worried or concerned that something had happened, remembering the time her mother had taken her home in the middle of the day because she had forgotten that her little sister, Setsuko, had had a doctor's appointment that afternoon. She had tried to remember if there was any such appointment today but she couldn't think of one._

_The thought occurred to her that maybe her parents had planned a surprise or something for her eighteenth birthday today. She thought about it and although there was a slight possibility, it was pretty unlikely. With that she dismissed it entirely._

_When she had gotten to the office after grabbing her stuff, she had seen both her sisters there as well. Her middle sister, Rei, had been sitting silently in one of the chairs against wall and her youngest sister, Setsuko, had been talking with the secretary. Normally this would have been their usual behaviour but something had been different._

_Instead of Rei's usual __I'm bored and holier-than-thou__ silence – when she wasn't chatting with her friends that is – Edana had seen Rei in a more __worried, deep in thought kind __of silence_ _and instead of Setsuko's usual crazy, hyper way of talking she had been using a more sad, low, and quiet voice which would have been a major relief if the circumstances had allowed it._

_When Edana had entered, the two girls had stopped their actions and looked up at her. Edana had taken note of the looks on their faces and then she had turned to the secretary._

"_You called me down," she had said, acting as though she didn't already know that something was going on._

"_Yes," the women had replied. "A Mrs. Yoshida is here to drive all three of you to the hospital." Edana's face had paled and she had replied with a shaky thank you before walking out the door with her sisters in tow. _Why was their neighbour picking them up? Where were their parents?

_They had arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later after an extremely awkward car ride with Mrs. Yoshida trying desperately to cheer the girls up without telling them anything. Car crash, the nurses had whispered when they had entered. Then they had been directed to a room in the west wing on the second floor._

Now she was walking to that room, her sisters behind her.

When they reached the right wing there was a sign hanging from the ceiling. It read intensive care unit. That was when she felt the first tear of many roll down her cheek leaving a wet trail in its wake. She realized that she had stopped and started walking again only to notice that her sisters were no longer following her.

They had seen the sign, had immediately burst into tears, and were clutching at each other as they cried. They always were cry-babies, was all she could think of. She walked over to them and tucked the map that they had been using into the pocket of Rei's jeans. That done, she continued down the hallway alone.

When she finally reached the right room, she hesitated, not knowing what to expect. Nobody had told them anything. Mrs. Yoshida had obviously not wanted to tell them anything they weren't supposed to hear and so had not said anything at all and all of the nurses had just looked at them with sad smiles that she had assumed were meant to comfort her. Instead they just made her feel as though they were laughing at her and shoving it in her face that it had happened to her and not them.

She wasn't mad or angry at them though. No. She would probably have done the exact same thing if she was them. At the moment though, she didn't want pity. All she wanted was someone to hold her and comfort her. They didn't have to say anything, just be there for her to lean on - to cry on. But her two sisters had always been closest with each other. In all the things they had done, we had always been the odd one out.

More tears slid down her cheeks. She knew that she had to go in eventually and she had already dallied too long. So, she took a deep breath, furtively wiped at the tears in her eyes, and opened the door. As she stepped through, the first thing she saw was white. White floors, white walls, white curtains, white furniture. Then her eyes rested on the people lying on the two single beds.

She hadn't been told whether both or just one of her parents had been hurt. She hadn't even been told that it was her parents who were hurt but it hadn't been too hard for her to figure that out on her own, and from their crying, she guessed that her sisters had realized it as well.

They were in bad shape; hence, the placement in the critical care unit of the hospital. However there were no doctors. Only a nurse who immediately stood up and left without saying a word the moment she entered. It was as though they had already decided what her parents' fate would be and were doing nothing about it.

Her father was asleep but her mother opened her eyes when she heard Edana walk into the room. "Edana…" her mother said faintly.

"Yes, mom. I'm here," she replied. She walked over to the edge of the bed and sat in the stool the nurse had vacated when she left.

"Where are Rei and Setsuko?" her mother asked. It sounded like she was having a harder time talking as she said it.

"They're coming, mom," Edana answered, hoping to comfort her.

"No," her mother said a little more strongly. "They can't come yet. There is something I need to tell you first." Edana's eyes widened a little in shock.

"Why, mom? What is it?" She felt herself tearing up again. Her mother's eyes softened a little.

"I don't have time to fully explain but don't worry. You'll most likely meet another one like you later on who'll be able to help you. In the meantime though, it would be best if you didn't try anything," she said fading a bit near the end.

"What are you talking about, mom? What do you mean `someone like me'?" Edana's voice was hurried and a little loud. All the stress was breaking through the mental barriers she hadn't even know she had built and it was starting to show. Her mother just looked up at her and said the one thing that could have made her life even worse.

"I am not your real mother."

Edana jumped up and backed away into the wall. She closed her eyes, and covered her ears in an effort to block it all out. It was too much – too much, too fast.

"Stop! It's not true!" she yelled.

"Yes it is," her _mother_ insisted.

"No!" Edana yelled again.

"You are not a normal human being, Edana. You were not even born in this world. You are destined for great things." At this Edana opened her eyes and looked at her mother.

"What?" she whispered is shock. She couldn't take this – couldn't believe it.

"You will know soon enough," her mother answered.

"Why?" All she could think of was questions. They just kept on whirling inside her head. Why was this happening and why now of all times? What is she supposed to be then? How did this all happen? Who is she and who are, or were, her real parents?

"Because today is your eighteenth birthday," her mother said. "I was going to tell you anyways. What time is it?"

The seemly random question threw her off a bit and she didn't know what to say before replying with a stuttered, "11:57."

"You will turn eighteen today at exactly 12:00pm," her mother said. Her words seemed to be getting quieter.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Edana asked, confused.

"In a few minutes you will see," was all she said. Edana's _mother_ closed her eyes for a second before opening them again.

"Be strong," she said. Then as her eyes drifted shut she whispered her last words. "We loved you like our own and will continue to do so even in death. Open your heart to others and have faith in yourself and you will never go wrong. Be strong."

Edana watched in morbid shock as her mother stopped breathing and her face took on a peaceful look. At the same time, the line on the heart monitor that was attached to her father went flat.

"I love you too, mom, dad," she whispered. "You will always be my parents to me, no matter what."

The clock struck noon at that moment and Edana gasped, startled. A feeling she had never felt before washed through her, piercing every cell in her body. She needed to get out of there and she needed to get out _now_.

Standing up from where she had been kneeling beside her mother's bedside, she rushed to the door pausing to take one last look at the people she still felt in her heart were her parents before the feeling made her start running again. She raced down the halls, past her sisters who had been shuffling slowly down the hall with their startled looks, past the elevator, down the stairs, past the front desk, and out onto the sidewalk.

Outside she stopped. She didn't know where to go anymore. Before she had been relying on the instinct she had felt but now that was gone and all she felt was the pain of losing someone you loved. She looked back at the hospital and debated going back inside but decided against it. There was nothing left for her in there now.

She knew she should go comfort her sisters but she just couldn't find the heart to walk back into the room where her parents lay in eternal sleep. They have each other anyways, she figured. If they need comfort it would be better if they helped each other. Edana had always felt like an outsider anyways. Now she knew why. The tears welled up in violet eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

Looking around, she remembered the forest not far from the small hospital that lay in Tokyo, Japan and knew where she wanted to go. Wanting to get there before she started into hysterics in the middle of the street, she raced in that direction. She ran for about two minutes until she accidently bumped into someone. She stumbled backwards and would have landed on her butt if an arm hadn't wrapped around her waist and steadied her by pulling her into a well-muscled chest.

"Sorry about that," a masculine voice said. "Are you okay?" She felt the man's arm unwrap itself and she stood on her own.

"Um, yeah," she replied quickly. "I should have been watching where I was going. I've got to go."

With that, she started running again yelling, "Good-bye," over her shoulder.

If she hadn't been so focused on getting to her destination, she would have stopped and talked to man a bit more. He had looked to be in his early twenties and was extremely handsome in a rugged, bad-boy sort of way with black hair that was just slightly longer than normal, dark mahogany eyes, and a well built body. She couldn't help but smile as she ran, her breath coming in short gasps from the exertion.

"Wait up!" she heard a voice behind her yelling. It was him. She didn't have time for this. She had to get to that forest so she just kept running not slowing her pace at all. Unsurprisingly, he caught up quickly.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Too tired to speak she just pointed to the forest, the edge of which could be seen at the end of the street.

"Really," he said, "Isn't that a bit too far to run to." Edana just shrugged and kept running. The boy looked at her again after sidestepping an old lady with a grocery cart.

"I can get you there faster if you want," he offered.

This time Edana spared him a glance but didn't slow her pace.

"How?" she asked, not willing to be taken for a ride by some stranger even if he was hot… and drop dead sexy… and-

"Stop Edana!" she yelled in her head, "Get your mind out of the gutter, girl!" Determined once again, she sped up her pace.

"I'm not going to kidnap you or anything," he said defensively. "If you would stop running, I'd be able to introduce myself properly."

She glanced at him again just in time to catch him smirking at her. `Arrogant prick,' she thought.

"I don't have time for this," she said aloud. She really did feel like she would break down any minute and was surprised she hadn't done so already.

"You want time? I'll give you more time," he said taking a hold of her arm.

"What!" she yelled but before the word was all the way out of her mouth they were there. At the edge of the forest, that is. She could see the dark trees swaying the slight breeze right in front of her. The few sakura trees had sprinkled their soft pink petals on the ground, creating a delicate carpet.

"Well," the man said beside her, "Did I get you here fast enough?"

"Y-yes," Edana stammered. "But, how?" However, before he could answer she suddenly felt a pull – a tugging deep in her chest. It felt as though it was coming from her heart. A bright, violet light suddenly enveloped her. It seemed to originate from her chest, right above her heart. As she watched transfixed, a violet crystal emerged from inside her.

It wasn't round or drop shaped but looked like a cylinder with five sides and points on each end. One point was hidden by a silver wire that wrapped around that end and held it onto a thin silver chain which wrapped itself around her neck.

Suddenly she felt a strong power surge through her. It wasn't dark or menacing but light and pure and it felt as though it had always been there, lying dormant inside her. It surged around her body until it finally subsided back into the crystal that now hung around her neck. With the blinding light gone she could again see her surroundings, but instead of a small wood on the edge of a town, she saw multitudes of trees and plants surrounding a small clearing. Then she fainted from sudden and complete exhaustion.

_A young woman was sitting beside a lake of crystal water fed by a large waterfall, the top of which was hidden from view by clouds of mist. Around her was a lush forest full of animals and all types of wild life. They were drawn to this woman in a mysterious way yet unknown even to her. He was drawn in the same way only it felt deeper than that. So he observed her from a distance._

_Though her surroundings were beautiful, she was far more captivating. Her light dress flowed around and caressed her figure while the violet material shimmered in the evening sun. Her long, auburn hair danced around her shoulders in the light breeze and she emitted an aura of purity and power. Through it all, it was her eyes that stood out the most. They were the lightest violet in colour and sparkled like the water in front of her. The irises where rimmed in a deep indigo and faint flecks of silver could be found in their depths. Just by watching he could tell that they were capable of piercing the soul in one instant and becoming a watery depth in the next. _

_At that moment, they swam with pearlescent tears._

_He watched entranced as one escaped from its prison and trickled down her cheek. His eyes followed the path it made down her porcelain face and watched it disappear as it fell into the grass._

_Suddenly all of the animals stood at attention, senses alert, and a thunderous roar could be heard. As he berated himself for not noticing the danger sooner, the girl stood and all the animals hurried away in fear._

_His eyes widened as a blanket of darkness enclosed the little clearing and the lake turned a cloudy black. As he watched the trees and plants began to die. Dismay crossed the woman's beautiful face but it quickly turned to a look of shock as she peered into the darkness at what was approaching. He felt the ominous aura and was filled with the sudden fierce urge to be beside her - to protect her. Surprised at the strength of these feelings he desperately tried to smash them down and get them under control._

_He knew that dark aura but he couldn't remember where. All he could focus on was her and it took all of his energy just to keep his inner demon from taking over. The aura grew stronger as the darkness grew thicker. She seemed to know this evil as well for she quickly summoned a light in the palm of her hand that radiated its warm glow across the clearing. When it reached him he could feel her strength, her life and her purity. It stung a bit from the pureness of it but it was worth it just to feel its warmth._

_The darkness retreated for a second when she summoned the light but then it came back even stronger than before. It crushed the light and covered the clearing once again. In the sudden pitch blackness he heard her cry of pain and his inner demon tried even harder to break free of its bonds once more. When he smelt her tears, his strong barriers broke and his inner demon took full control. His eyes turned a bloody red and he transformed into a huge white dog._

_Using his demonic speed he raced towards the small glimmer of light that she was still able to produce, a light that was quickly fading. As he got closer, he could see her terrified expression and that spurred him to even greater speed. If only he had been just a little bit closer. The darkness grew thicker as her light dimmed and he reached her just as the black fog completely hid her from his sight._

When Sesshomaru awoke, all he could see was her looking at him pleading - crying.

Sesshomaru struggled out of the sweaty, twisted sheets and walked across the room to the shoji screens that hid a lush garden. Opening them he stepped outside. Taking a deep breath, his sensitive nose could smell the familiar scents of the plants, his palace guards, the kitchens and his servants on the breeze.

This was not the first time he had awakened from this dream in the middle of the night and it was always the same. He would see the beautiful girl surrounded by some sort of nature, whether it was that clearing or a high cliff over looking a gorgeous valley, when suddenly darkness would come. He would always feel those same feelings – though he remained thoroughly convinced that they were simply illusions conjured up by the dream – and the darkness would always get her first.

He didn't know how to get rid of them, nor did he know why they occurred. They were quickly becoming a nuisance and were affecting his behaviour. At the moment however, he could do nothing except learn to expect them for they always seemed to come on the night of the new moon.

This night was cloudy and the moon and stars where hidden behind large, dark clouds. He could smell the rain on the air but it had been like this for the past three months and had never rained. Coincidently, this was also when the dreams had started.

This Sesshomaru however did not believe in fate or coincidences. He was in control of his life and nothing would change that. If things happened, they happened and the people involved would just have to deal with that.

Normally dreams wouldn't affect him for two reasons, one of which being that he hardly ever dreamed. The other reason was that he simply wouldn't allow the dream to affect him. However, over the past few months it seemed as though this one had. Jaken had suspected something was bothering his master and Lord for a while, and the servants were starting to notice as well.

Lord Sesshomaru would often be caught staring pointlessly at nothing in particular and since he never did anything pointlessly it was surprising for all who knew him. The Lords would catch him doing so during meetings and although he denied it – it would do no good if they believed that he didn't care about his lands anymore – they didn't seem to believe him. Insolent fools. Over the past months they had grown restless and at this rate they may think to try something foolish.

Sesshomaru smirked at the idea. If they did try anything they would by in for a big surprise. His armies were always ready and at his disposal and – while some Lords were forced to recruit human soldiers for their armies – he had only the strongest of youkai.

As he was imagining various scenarios in which the enemy was viciously slaughtered by his various armies, his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in, Jaken," Sesshomaru commanded, not revealing his annoyance to the little toad demon.

"My lord, your presence is needed right away," the toad squeaked out upon entering his Lord's chambers.

Sesshomaru mentally sighed. "Very well, Jaken," he said turning away from his retainer and looking back at the garden. Jaken opened his mouth as if to say something but thought the better of it. It would not do to upset his master with pointless questions.

A little while after Jaken left, Sesshomaru walked to his office. Upon entering he observed the three Lords standing in front of his desk silently. His cold glare pierced each one sending shivers down their spines.

Lord Sesshomaru was known for his ruthlessness and disinterest in anything he deemed unworthy. The little girl living with him was the only proof that he even had a heart and only the palace staff knew about her.

It seemed that the time had come to once again remind the other Lords who was the strongest. He would travel to the Eastern Lands first.

The smile that rose on his aristocratic face did more then send mere shivers down their spines.

**TBC**

**A/N: Edana means "night rain", Tomomi means "beautiful friend", Setsuko means "festival child", and Rei means "thanks", "grace", and "worship".**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: The "blue dawn flower" is a type of mourning-glory. If is also known as the ocean-blue morning-glory and blue morning-glory. Its scientific name is Ipomoea Indica. Not exactly native to Japan but oh well. I do NOT own this flower, obviously. I also don't own the song "I Like the Flowers". It is a song that I learned while in the Girl Guides of Canada (also don't own!) while I was a little girl. I don't know who originally made it up but it wasn't me. I got the lyrics for both from my boss' website, www. dragon. sleepdeprived. ca (minus the spaces).**

**Opposites Attract  
****Chapter 2**

Rin skipped happily through the forest with none of the fear that most kids her age should have felt when alone in the forest in the Feudal Era. She knew that her Lord was nearby and, though that thought would have done nothing to reassure anyone else, she felt perfectly at ease.

_I like the flowers, I like the daffodils,_

Rin's voice rose up as she began to sing. Her voice was sweet for one so young. She sang the song that she had heard a woman singing to her little girl in one of the few villages that Lord Sesshomaru had allowed her to visit. She didn't mind though. She trusted her Lord to do the best thing for her.

_I like the mountains; I like the rolling hills,_

She remembered the numerous rolling hills that they had flown or walked over and the mountain that she had watched Lord Sesshomaru fly off towards in one of his efforts to take down the hanyou, Naraku.

_I like the campfire, when all the lights are low…_

Jaken had probably prepared a campfire for her to return to when she came back from her current mission of picking a new bunch of flowers. Well, he better had if he didn't want to displease her Lord. It was funny when Lord Sesshomaru punished Jaken by kicking him, letting Ah-Un walk over him, or throwing anything within reach at him. It was even funnier when the toad demon fell unconscious and was left behind to catch up the next day.

Humming now, she entered the field that Lord Sesshomaru had told her was there before she had left him and Jaken at their camp for the night. The flowers swayed in the slight breeze creating a moving sea of blue, red, violet, and yellow. The flowers she had in mind though were blue with a tinge of pink on their stems. The villagers had called them blue dawn flowers.

Spotting a patch of them near the center of clearing, Rin skipped happily over, not noticing the narrow but deep hole just a few feet in front of her. She yelped as her foot caught in the hole and twisted as she fell. She landed on her hands and knees with only a few scratches on them but her foot hurt a lot.

"Rin hurt her foot," she murmured to herself. The young girl attempted to stand up but pain immediately shot through her leg the second she put any pressure on it and she was forced back to the ground.

Tears welling up in her eyes from the pain, she slowly crawled toward the blue flowers she had seen earlier. If she was going to do anything it was to get the flowers for Lord Sesshomaru.

_Maybe if Rin gets the pretty flowers, my Lord will not be mad at Rin for hurting herself._

As she neared her destination, she noticed that there seemed to be a shape in the grass. It was moving slightly and looked to be the colour white. Curious, she continued forward and soon realized that she was looking at a young woman. She was wearing a strange white outfit which was why Rin had thought she was all white before. She had light brownish hair and pale skin that seemed to glow slightly in the fading sunlight.

The movement was the rise and fall of the woman's chest as she breathed evenly in her sleep. Curious, Rin shifted closer so that she could see her face which was facing away from her. Before she could move around the woman's head, limited as she was by her ankle, the woman shifted. The unexpected movement startled the little girl and she fell back on butt in her surprise.

Wide eyed, Rin watched as the woman abruptly sat up.

Slowly floating up from unconsciousness, Edana's mind was clouded in a relaxing haze. Sensations came in series and she just let them flow over her.

Sound came first, seeping into the haze. Leaves were rustling. A twig cracked.

Smell came next and the scent of flowers and nature filled her nose.

Lastly was touch. Cool grass was pressed against her left side, the grass leaving indentations on her skin as it always does. The breeze that blew was brisk and left a chill on any exposed skin. She felt amazingly refreshed though she couldn't remember why.

Then coherent thought returned to her. Edana's eyes shot open and, as she bolted up from her lying position, what she now saw was a field of flowers. It was the clearing from before she fainted.

There was a patch of tiny yellow buttercups in front of her, a delicate looking blue and pinkish flower to her left and those hanging purple flowers that she liked but could never remember the name of to her right. Looking around, most of these flowers and the trees behind them were ones that she recognized so she knew she couldn't have left Japan.

"Um, excuse me, miss?" said a voice immediately behind her.

"Eep!" Edana exclaimed, spinning around to face the mysterious speaker. It was a little girl.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The girl had long brown hair that reached to her waist and chocolate brown eyes that were large and round, and staring up at her in curiosity.

Edana blinked.

"Um, yeah. I'm fine, I guess," she started, moving her hand behind her head in the embarrassment that she would have to ask a kid for directions.

"Um, do you happen to know where we are?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment and Edana began to wonder if the little girl even knew. Of course, her house would have to be nearby for her to be out in the woods alone.

Then the girl smiled.

"We're near the border between the Western lands and the Eastern lands."

Dumbfounded, Edana just stared at the girl.

"Excuse me?" Edana asked, not believing the girl's answer. There was no place she had heard of called the 'Western lands' or 'Eastern lands' except in her history textbook.

The girl looked up at her, confused.

"Rin's sorry," she said. "But Rin does not know what you are referring to."

…

Her eyebrow twitched.

_Stay. Calm. Stay. Calm. Stay. Calm._

"Okay, then. Can you take me to your parents instead?"

"Rin's parents are dead."

…

"_Nani_?"

The girl, now know as Rin, just kept looking up at her with an oblivious look on her face.

"Rin's parents are dead," the girl repeated, and then she smiled softly. "Rin lives with Sesshomaru-sama now."

Edana leaned her head to the side in confusion and scepticism.

"Sesshomaru-_sama_?"

Before Rin could answer, a loud growl was heard coming from the bushes behind her. Turning, Rin watched in horror as three large wolves emerged from the foliage that had been concealing them before they moved on their target.

Edana bolted up and moved in front of Rin who hadn't moved an inch since the wolves had shown themselves.

"Get out of here!" she yelled at the approaching pack, waving her hands in an attempt to scare them off.

It didn't work and they just moved ever closer. Rin started trembling in fear, not making a sound. Edana looked around for an escape; anything that would help them get away from the wolves.

As they drew nearer, Rin cowered even more behind her. It seemed the girl had a fear of wolves; of course, so would any normal child of that age.

There were no large branches on the ground around them, there was no cover of trees close enough that they could dash to, and there was no hope of out running the wolves across a clearing with Rin in tow. Even without Rin, Edana doubted she would make it and she would never have left the child anyways even if she could.

Fierce protectiveness: that was what mothers felt for their young and that was the look on Edana's face when four more wolves stepped into the clearing.

Growling, they bared their fangs as they moved toward their prey. Fear coursed through Edana's body but she didn't shake or shiver. She wouldn't let her fear show in front of Rin; who was clutching her leg now, withdrawn into her own fear.

_She looks traumatized,_ Edana mused, wondering what had happened to instil that sense of fear into such a young girl.

Turning her attention to the wolves slinking ever closer, she realized that she would have to fight them off herself. Hopefully, if she could distract all of them long enough, Rin could make a break for it. She hadn't realized that Rin had injured her ankle.

They were about two feet away now, the front one crouching and ready to spring. The low growling in their throats was a constant sound now and it became a background roar in Edana's ears. Her senses focused on the danger before her, tuning out all else. The child behind her all but disappeared from her mind and any surroundings were merely taken into account before being pushed to the back of her mind.

She would _not_ let them get Rin.

Squashing her fear and replacing it with anger and determination, Edana growled in her own throat and stepped forwards, challenging the wolves who dared to threaten her and the child she now protected.

The growling of the wolves ceased briefly before taking on a new tone of anger and challenged Edana to respond. Edana growled back louder than before and moved forward again.

The wolves, not used to being defied by their prey, stepped back. They were used to the submissive beings they usually fed on.

Realizing that what she was doing was having an effect, Edana looked the leader of the wolf pack in the eye and growled menacingly, baring her teeth at the alpha male. Amethyst eyes sparked and the alpha took another step back, giving up ground.

Unbeknownst to Edana, a violet aura had surrounded her much the same as the one that had brought her to this strange scene in the first place. The wolves sensed the spike in energy and, realizing that their prey was too much for them to handle, they turn and fled back into the woods.

Edana watched them go in surprise as the violet aura faded. As her senses receded back to normal, she noticed that Rin was still in the same position as before and was trembling violently.

Kneeling down to the frightened girl's level, Edana looked into Rin's unseeing eyes. The chocolate orbs were blank with fear and her hands were cold and clammy when Edana took one in her own hand.

"Rin…" she called softly. "Rin, its okay, you're safe now. The wolves are gone."

The girl remained unresponsive.

Edana ran a hand through her own hair, auburn locks falling into her eyes. Brushing them away, she sighed.

"I guess I'll just have to carry you around and hope I can find your family, or whoever's taking care of you," she mumbled more to herself than Rin.

"That won't be necessary," a rich tenor voice spoke.

Startled, Edana spun around and came face to face with the demon lord.

Long silver hair shimmered like moonshine with every movement. Golden suns were held captive in his eyes. Magenta markings ran down aristocratic cheeks and a blue crescent moon adorned his forehead. Claws and pointed ears identified him as something other than human. What he was, Edana had no idea.

His only flaw was that he had only one arm. The other seemed to be missing starting slightly below the shoulder.

A cry of joy behind her brought her back from her ogling.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin exclaimed, sighting the man, who was evidently the guardian she had mentioned.

Edana stood stock still as the young child darted out from behind her and attempted to sprint the ten steps to the edge of the clearing where the strange man had stepped out.

With each step, Rin winced, favouring her injured leg by limping slightly.

Sesshomaru noticed, of course, but his eyes never left Edana's, piercing and threatening. And yet, there was surprise in those golden orbs as well.

Edana swallowed in sudden, unexplainable fear. Her instincts screamed that this man – Alien? Creature? – was dangerous and her mind was inclined to agree.

Rin wrapped herself around Sesshomaru's leg the second she was within reaching distance.

A brief glare latter, he lifted the child using his one arm, turned, and walked off, back into the forest. At the last second, Rin called back, "Thank you very much!"

Edana stared at the strange man's retreating back.

"Wait!"

It could have only been self-preservation, or the fear of being left alone in the woods once again, that overrode her fear of the bizarre man and made Edana call out after the odd pair.

Rin turned her head at Edana's plea, but the silver-haired man didn't even pause.

Edana ran to catch up with the girl and her guardian. She wasn't about to let her ticket back to civilization just walk away.

"Can you at least tell me where I am?" the woman begged.

Sesshomaru refused to stop, no matter how much he wanted to. It took every ounce of his control not to just stare in shock at the woman from his dreams. The woman who was walking right behind him.

Rin tilted her head at the woman, "I told you: we're near the border between the Western lands and the Eastern lands."

"Right, Lord Sesshomaru?" she questioned, looking back at him.

"That is correct," he replied. The woman was lost? Was she from the Eastern lands and had accidently wandered into his territory?

"And could you tell me exactly what country these 'western and eastern lands' are in? Because they aren't any place I know of in Japan." she said, a sarcastic note in her voice.

The woman's reply had Sesshomaru finally stopping. Evidently, she was _very_ lost.

"You are in Japan," he said. Then he gave into his curiosity. "Where are you from?"

The expression on the woman's familiar face was one of extreme confusion.

"Japan," she answered. "Tokyo, to be precise."

"I have never heard of such a place."

The woman's eyes widened in shock.

"How... How have you never heard of Tokyo?" she stuttered. "That's just not possible."

Sesshomaru's confusion was steadily growing.

"We are near the village of Edo."

He hesitated.

"I will take you there and the villagers will assist you," he offered.

But the woman wasn't about to reply any time soon. She had raised her hands to her mouth in shock and was babbling.

"Edo? EDO! How is that even... How did I... Oh god, I think I'm going to faint."

She swayed slightly, but managed to sit on the grass, her head between her knees.

A familiar surge of protectiveness over this small woman had Sesshomaru reeling back. He barely knew this woman, despite seeing her in his dreams. He had no reason to be protective of her.

She had behaved very differently in front of the wolves that had tried to attack her and his ward. In fact, she had protected Rin with such fierceness that he had briefly wondered if she was a youkai herself. But the violet aura which she had given off was one that he had never seen before in all of his travels. It was not the aura of a youkai, but neither was it that of a miko.

"Woman," he called.

She didn't reply, only continued muttering to herself.

Sesshomaru knelt down in front of her, placing Rin on the ground beside him.

Edana felt cold all over. She was in the past! Somehow she had managed to jump into the past before Edo had developed into her Tokyo.

Suddenly, she felt warm fingers under her chin, gently but relentlessly forcing her to raise her head.

The gorgeous man was right in front of her.

"Come with me," he said. At this proximity, she was able to catch a glimpse of unusually long and unusually sharp canine teeth when he spoke.

_What the hell_, she told herself. _What else can I do anyway?_

She reached out her hand. He hesitated for a moment, but then grasped it in his own. His palm was warm against hers.

He stood and used their grip to pull her up with him. Without letting go, he led her between the dense trees.

"Rin," he told the girl. "Go and tell Jaken to make Ah-Un ready to leave."

"Ok," she said, and limped slightly away, disappearing quickly amongst the dense foliage.

It was only a short walk before they reached a campsite. There was a small fire pit whose ashes were still smouldering and the grass around it was depressed from multiple passages.

It was what was off in the corner of the clearing that drew Edana's attention: a two-headed beast and a little green thing.

The green thing was attempting to strap a large bag onto the beast's saddle while Rin laughed.

Edana froze. The silver-haired man – Sesshomaru, she reminded herself – continued forward. In one swift movement, he snatched the bag from the green thing, and then deftly secured it one-handed to the beast.

"My Lord!" it said. The green thing could speak!

Noticing Edana, Rin introduced her friends.

She pointed to the beast. "This is Ah-Un," she said.

The green thing was claimed as Jaken.

"What are they?" Edana asked.

Rin looked confused.

"I'm an imp youkai, you filthy human!" the green thing replied for her.

"And Ah-Un is a dragon youkai!" Rin supplied.

_Youkai?_ Edana thought. _Oh boy._

And this time, she really did faint.

Sesshomaru turned just in time to see the woman falling. Moving almost instantaneously, he caught her unconscious form in his arm.

He took a brief moment to examine her features close-up. Even at this proximity she looked exactly like the woman in his dream. There was no mistake, it had to be her.

Easily moving the female with his one arm, he noticed how light she was. He had known human females tended to be on the smaller side, but without any armour or weapons she was as light as a feather to him.

Wandering alone and unarmed in the forest was dangerous, especially for a woman, and especially if that woman was lost.

Quickly depositing her face down on the two-headed dragon, he moved back to prepare to fly himself.

Once Rin was settled on Ah-Un, they took off, moving steadily East towards Edo.

Despite his desire to learn more about this mysterious woman who somehow had managed to appear in his dreams before having met, he was wary of what might happen if he did. This woman affected him profoundly while he slept and he most certainly did not want her affecting him every other hour of the day as well.

So to that end, he would only assist her as long as was absolutely necessary and after that she was on her own.

Maybe, if he felt like it, he would make sure that she met up with his half-brother who could help her get wherever she was going.

It had all simply been too much for one day and her mind had just given up trying to deal with it all. Between the loss of her parents – who apparently weren't even her real parents – and being magically transported back in time, Edana had no idea how she was going to cope.

A few minutes of blessed darkness were not enough to recover from a world shattering discovery. This is especially when the person experiencing this world shattering discovery was forced awake through near drowning.

It was very disconcerting to wake up to a green, toad-like thing staring down at you as it tried to shove a spoonful of water down your throat, effectively choking you until your eyes watered.

Damn toad.

As Rin scolded the creature known as Jaken, who was still holding the offending spoon and a flask, Edana took the opportunity to inspect the surrounds which she had awoken to this time.

She was seated on the Ah-Un creature. Rin and Jaken were seated beside her on its back. She looked further.

Clouds. Birds. More clouds. Another bird. The silver-haired man on a cloud...

Wait... What? And where was the _ground_?

…

Oh, there it was.

…

Her scream shattered the calm silence that had enveloped the small party but a few moments before.

And then she fainted. Again.

After ignoring the piercing screech of the human woman, it was Rin's shriek that alerted the demon lord that something was wrong with the female whom he had purposefully been avoiding as she had awoken.

Evidently the human had fallen off of Ah-Un.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Opposites Attract  
****Chapter 3**

This time Edana drifted slowly back to consciousness rather than being forced as she had been before. She was still on the back of the dragon youkai, but the spoon was nowhere in sight.

Ah-Un, however, was walking on the ground like a normal beast-of-burden, rather than sailing through the clouds. Jaken was walking beside it, using a literally two-headed staff as a walking stick. Edana shuddered. That stick was both ugly and creepy.

Rin was singing as she skipped ahead of the group, bunches of fresh flowers in each hand, and Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen.

Jaken noticed that she was awake.

"You should be grateful, wench!" he croaked. "Lord Sesshomaru saved your life! _I_ would have let you fall to your death!"

Edana scowled at the miniscule toad.

"What do you mean, 'saved my life'?" she questioned.

"You fainted and fell off, you stupid human!" he explained. "You are lucky that Lord Sesshomaru deemed you worthy enough to save or-"

Jaken was cut off mid-rant as a stone struck him squarely on the head from behind.

He lay dazed on the ground as Ah-Un kept walking. Rin didn't even turn around.

Amused, Edana watched as Sesshomaru stepped out of the forest and fell into step next to the dragon youkai.

"You did that?" she asked.

"If you are concerned, he will be fine." Sesshomaru said without answering her question.

Edana smirked. "Oh, I'm not concerned." _Definitely not._

She could almost swear that she saw a pleased smile quirk his lips.

Leaning back in Ah-Un's saddle, Edana considered her situation.

"Alright, so Jaken is an imp demon..."

Sesshomaru nodded.

"And Ah-Un is a dragon demon."

A nod.

"But the girl, Rin, is just human?"

Golden eyes looked over at her, considering. Probably how much he wanted to actually tell her about his friends.

"Yes, she is human," he said after a moment.

"Great, so what are you?" Edana asked bluntly. It was a brave new world. No time for pleasantries. She needed to know what she was dealing with here.

Again, he paused for a moment, looking ahead as he replied. "I am an inu youkai."

A dog demon.

Edana tilted her head.

"You don't look like a dog."

"I do... in my true form."

"Oh." True form? "So you can... transform? At will or at, like, the full moon, or something?"

This was just getting weirder and weirder.

Sesshomaru smirked. "At will. Only hanyou are limited in their transformations."

Half-bloods? Oh god, that totally meant what she thought it meant, didn't it?

She could never in a million years imagine any human wanting to sleep with the little green toad. Although – she looked over at Sesshomaru – she could definitely imagine some humans who would desire this particular demon. Hell, she knew she definitely wouldn't mind.

Well, as long as they were still the same... down there. But that was a subject which she didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole.

Edana cleared her throat. "So... What do you do?"

Then she thought of something before he could answer. "You don't... kill people, do you?"

_They're demons. Of course, they kill people._ she thought nervously. _Crap._

Sesshomaru replied before she could whip herself into a panic.

"Only when necessary. Inu youkai relish the fight, not the kill; though they often go hand in hand." He had a wicked smile on his face as he spoke, as though he was remembering some particularly good ones.

Edana was only mildly comforted.

"Then what do you eat?"

He looked at her funny when she asked her question but answered nonetheless.

"Food. Meat mostly, but anything a human eats would do. Even a larger variety than humans, in fact, as some items which are toxic to humans are not so for us."

Somehow, she was mildly disappointed. Other than his different appearance (which wasn't even as drastic as it could have been – take Jaken or Ah-Un for example), this _true form_ he had mentioned, and a love of fighting, she really didn't see that much difference between him and any human man.

And a true form as a dog? Well, now that was just cute. She'd always wanted a dog...

But wait... she could sort of remember him standing on a cloud as they flew before she had fainted again.

"Can you fly?" she asked.

"Yes, I can fly."

Her breath caught in her throat.

"Show me."

Despite her fainting earlier, Edana was not afraid of heights. She had simply been shocked at waking up in the air with no plane surrounding her. Now that she was fully awake and alert, she wanted that experience that only open-air flying could give.

Sesshomaru hesitated. He was having a hard time not giving in to her innocent demand. Even when she had been questioning him, he found that he didn't mind answering. In fact, he wanted to satisfy her curiosity about himself. He wanted this strange human to get to know him. She seemed to be complete unafraid of him and he found that... refreshing.

But he shouldn't. He had already determined that he would drop her off at Edo and that would be that. He couldn't risk anything more. He had responsibilities to uphold.

The woman was staring at him with those brilliantly violet eyes that swam with excitement. She wanted him to fly, to fly with her. He didn't even know her name.

"Not right now," he finally forced out.

Her face fell. She was disappointed.

"You know who I am," he continued. "You should return the favour."

Her eyes met his once more and he would see the wariness in them.

"My name is Edana Calder. I'm human. What else do you want to know?"

"You mentioned that you are from a place called Tokyo. Where is it?"

She sighed. "I suppose I can't just lie and tell you I'm from somewhere else now," she muttered.

"I would have known if you had lied," he said. He would have scented her nervousness as she told it.

She gave him a puzzled look but brushed his comment aside.

"Tokyo is Edo. At least, Edo will become Tokyo in the future." She wiped a hand across her face. "This is difficult to explain."

"I was in Tokyo just a few hours ago and then I was surrounded by this light and woke up here. Apparently _here_ is 500 years into the past. So-"

"You're from the future."

Edana blinked. "Yeah, from the year 2013. You seem oddly okay with this."

"My half-brother's human companion is also from the future. From around your time, I believe."

"Holy crap! Really? Could she get me back home? Where is she?"

Sesshomaru could see the hope lighting those amethyst eyes.

"I don't know where she is at the moment but I can track down my half-brother and she will be with him. As for how she gets back, I have never seen the need to learn her secret. All I am aware of is that she goes back and forth frequently."

"Great! So you can take me to them?"

Another request from this mesmerizing woman that he had to deny.

"No, I cannot take you to them."

For the second time, disappoint shone on her features. This time, however, the sadness was deeper.

"I cannot take you to them," he continued, "because it would be faster for me to track him down alone and bring him to you. Taking you and Rin would only slow me down."

Her returning smile gave him more pleasure than it should have. She caused his emotions to surface too easily. Her connection to the woman in his dreams... whatever that may be, made his emotions too vulnerable. He would have to be very careful around this woman.

She could get home!

Before she had been consumed, first, by fear of the wolves and then by curiosity at the beings currently surrounding her. As she had spoken of her home, however, she had realized that she had no idea if she could ever get back. She had no idea how she had gotten here so it wasn't like she could just repeat whatever she had done before. If it had even been her. For all she knew, it could have been that black-haired man that had followed her and then magically teleported her to the Toyko forest. It was quite possible that he had teleported her here as well.

But now she had a way out of the past. This companion of Sesshomaru's brother – er, half-brother – had done it before and had apparently come back again numerous times. Maybe, if she played her cards right, she could come back to visit too...

She glanced over at the demon walking beside her and turned back quickly when she caught him watching her.

Yeah, she definitely would like to come back for a visit. She wanted to learn more about these demons, their whole culture, and she wanted to learn more about this land, this strange, yet familiar land.

"What did you do in this future Japan?" His bartone voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I was a student," she said.

He seemed surprised. "You are still a student at your age?"

"My age?" she asked, confused. "I'm only eighteen."

Understanding seemed to come to him before it came to her.

"Most children have completed their studies in whichever profession they chose by the time they reach puberty," he explained.

"Oh. I'd forgotten that adulthood began early back then – now, because the average life span was so short. In my time, I only just reached adulthood today, and even then, many kids don't move out of their parent's house until well into their 20s."

She sighed. "Not that I have much of a choice myself," she mumbled to herself.

But Sesshomaru heard. "Why is that?"

She kept my head down to hide my eyes which were beginning to tear up.

"My parents – they just died this morning. I-" Grief choked her words, forcing her to stop.

"The death of a parent is... difficult," he said solemnly.

Edana cleared her throat. "Did you lose your parents as well?"

"My father, but that was a long time ago. I am not close with my mother and see her only rarely."

Her curiosity became a life raft as Edana attempted to rise above her grief.

"Do you remember much about your father? Losing him as a child must have been hard."

Sesshomaru's head turned, confusion written on his face.

"I was hardly a child when he died. Why would I have forgotten my father?"

"But you can't be much older than myself," Edana said, now confused as well. "How long ago did he die?"

"I am significantly older than yourself. Youkai live much longer than humans. My father died over 200 years ago."

Her jaw dropped.

"How old are you then?"

His lips twitched in an almost-smirk. "Over 500 years.

"Wow..." Edana was amazed. "How long can youkai live?"

"A very long time," was his cryptic reply.

"Apparently," she remarked sarcastically.

Their conversation tapered off into a companionable silence.

"What about siblings?" Sesshomaru continued. Apparently he hadn't been kidding when he had said that it was his turn to learn about her.

"I have two sisters. Both younger. The middle one is Rei and the youngest one is Setsuko." As Edana spoke, she remembered her mother's words. _I am not your real mother... You are not a normal human being, Edana. You were not even born in this world._ What could she have meant by that?

No matter what it meant, however, Rei and Setsuko were still her sisters and her mother and father would always be her parents to her.

"And they're both still in the future?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. At least as far as I know. They weren't with me when I... disappeared, I guess. And they weren't with me when I appeared here."

"You said you were surrounded by a light and then you woke up here. Is there anything else you can remember?"

"Well, I didn't exactly wake up here, per se," she admitted. "It was more like _poof_. One second I was there, the next I was here." She blushed. "Then I fainted and that's why I said that I woke up here."

"You seem to faint a lot – even for a human."

"Hey!" Edana protested. "It's been a very stressful day!"

Sesshomaru met her eyes once more and all the previous humour was gone from his voice. "Yes, I suppose it has been."

Again, silence descended.

"So..." Edana began. "How far to Edo?"

"Not much farther," Sesshomaru replied. "About a day's walk at a human pace. We should make it there tomorrow."

"What about at a demon's pace?"

"Typically a demon would not be walking," he responded. "Running or flying maybe."

"Well, I had suggested flight earlier and was turned down," she groused. She still wanted to fly.

"It is not a good idea for us to fly so close to the village in which you intend to stay. The humans tend to become... anxious when there are demons around. It will be better for you if you and Rin go in alone while Jaken and Ah-Un guard you from the outskirts of the village until I can return."

"But where are we supposed to stay? I won't know anyone in the village and Rin is only a child."

Sesshomaru had already considered this and answered immediately. "I will give you enough money to purchase food and rent a respectable room in the meantime. Jaken and Ah-Un will ensure that no other demons approach the village and this will help you protect yourself against other humans."

As he spoke that last phrase, Sesshomaru removed a short dagger from within the folds of his clothing. It had a silver hilt wrapped in black leather for the grip. The pommel was a large ruby. The sheath was also black leather.

"It's gorgeous," Edana said admiringly. "Don't trust me with a sword?" she teased, gesturing at his own weapons.

Glancing at the two swords at his side, Sesshomaru frowned. "You would not be able to wield my swords. And in any case, a dagger is much easier to conceal. Men might think you are a threat if you are seen carrying a sword."

"I was just teasing," Edana said.

She tucked the dagger into her belt. She could feel the comforting weight of it shifting on her hip as Ah-Un moved under her.

"Thank you," she said.

"You are welcome."

At some point during their conversation, Jaken had managed to catch up with them and had continued to walk silently alongside Ah-Un. Soon Rin had also fallen back to walk with them, at which point Sesshomaru lifted her up onto Ah-Un's back where she sat in front of Edana.

They continued on like that as the sun dipped lower in the sky. When it finally dropped behind the tree tops, casting long shadows on the group, Sesshomaru called a halt.

Rin was yawning as she was placed back on the ground. Despite her obvious tiredness, the little girl began collecting twigs and small branches. Sesshomaru disappeared for a few minutes only to return with a stack of wood. By that time Rin had a sizable pile of kindling ready to go.

All of a sudden, fire blasted from Jaken's staff, surprising Edana. She started back from the sudden inferno and could swear she heard Jaken chuckling over the crackling of burning wood.

When the intense flames died down after only a moment, the kindling was left burning brightly. Sesshomaru set the wood on the flames and a roaring fire was quickly giving off plenty of heat in the cool evening air.

Edana was left with nothing to do in front of the efficient team. Evidently they had been doing this for a long time and she felt almost left out.

Once camp had been set up, Sesshomaru watched as both Rin and Jaken fell asleep quickly. Edana remained awake, sitting by the fire. The blanket she had been provided with was wrapped around her shoulders.

He approached her and sat close enough for casual conversation, though not so close as to allow for physical contact.

"You should sleep," he said.

She looked up at him with those violet eyes that seemed haunted at the moment, likely with the memories of her parents' deaths.

"So should you," she said in reply.

"Demons do not need as much sleep as humans," he answered. And even if he had needed the rest, we wouldn't have risked sleep for two reasons. First, his charges need to be protected and he only trusted himself to do that job unless, for whatever reason, he was unable to do so. Second, he was wary of dreaming again, especially with the object of said dreams so near.

"Is it sleeping in the open that is preventing you from resting?" he questioned. He could whisk her the rest of the way to Edo in only a few hours using his teleportation ability but did not want to risk being seen by the superstitious villagers.

"It's not that. My family and I went camping often when I was younger, so I'm fairly used to the outdoors." She sighed. "I was just thinking that I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get back to my own time. I'm about to graduate, so I suppose I'm going to have to find a job, especially since I'll have to support my sisters. And I guess we'll be able to keep the house, but then again, I don't know what state my parents left their finances in and if we'll even be able to afford it. If I'm even their legal guardian, that is. Gah! It's all so complicated!" She looked over at him. "It must be a lot simpler in this time."

"I do not know how the humans work out their monetary issues, but for the daiyoukai, inheritance through bloodlines is how fortunes, lands and titles are passed down. So I suppose that our process would be simpler than what you seem to be describing."

Edana leaned back from the fire to gaze at the sky.

"Part of me wishes that I could just stay here and avoid all that drama. Just get away from it all. Not have to have to be reminded everyday of what my sisters and I have lost."

In spite of the part of him that also wanted her stay in this time, Sesshomaru said instead, "Then you would be running away from your problems. That kind of plan usually does not work well in the end."

"I know," she said on a sigh. "I know."

Only the sounds of insects and nocturnal animals could be heard for a short while until Edana's soft voice broke through the night noises once more.

"I guess I should try to get some sleep. Goodnight, Sesshomaru-san," she said and curled up in front of the fire after spreading the blanket over herself.

The demon lord watched her as she lay awake for a long time before sleep finally came. It was already late into the night by the time her breathing evened out and her face took on the relaxed look of someone who was sleeping deeply.

Sesshomaru shifted away from the heat of the fire to lean against the trunk of a tree. From this position, he kept watch over their makeshift campsite through the night, always alert for any sign of danger to his charges.

At one point he thought he sensed something that he didn't recognize on the outskirts of their camp but it came and went so quickly that he didn't have an opportunity to pursue it. He brushed it off as a weak demon that must have realized that attacking a daiyoukai was not the smartest plan.

Otherwise, the night was quiet and he simply sat quietly and watched the skies for the lightening that would herald the new dawn.

**TBC**


End file.
